Slaying the Demon Monk (1)

Chanzhi Zhi quickly crossed the border and arrived in Guangyang.

To the naked eye, it appeared as if he had pushed open the gate of the pagoda and walked out.

"Ah... the oppressive power of this world, sigh." Chanzhi Zhi sighed.

Those who have never been to foreign lands cannot understand this sense of oppression.

Compared to the unbridled freedom outside the realm, in this world, it seems that every word and action is being watched.

Here, the inherently lofty Daoist principles are suppressed.

Those with excessively high cultivation levels will be suppressed.

The scope of the battle must not exceed a thousand miles, otherwise, Heavenly Punishment will be incurred.

No speed may exceed the Heavenly Way Limit.

No one may venture more than 30,000 miles underground.

Such Principle are engraved on the Heavenly Dao, requiring no human supervision; Heaven and Earth themselves set the standards for everyone.

Rules and regulations permeate the entire world.

In contrast, places outside the territory are truly free.

This is a place that countless people from the outside world want to 'ascend' into. They have given it countless names, such as the Immortal Realm, the Divine Realm, the Heavens, the Divine Dynasty, the Heavenly Kingdom, the Holy Realm, and the Supreme Land.

Their ultimate goal in cultivation is to ascend from their own world to the entire world and become a true god, immortal, or something else.

But the cultivators who actually live here only want to escape to the outer realms.

It's so depressing, so incredibly depressing.

It felt like a mountain was pressing down on my chest, making it hard to even breathe.

Restrained and restricted.

Fortunately, it was just someone I came back to pick up.

"The location is... Ah, found it." Chanzhi smiled and took a step forward.

Then, his body suddenly became ethereal, and he stepped into a cave.

This is precisely where the Guangyang Prefect is hiding.

If he knew that Li Qi would send the Chanzhi here, he would probably regret not killing Li Qi directly back then.

However, the Chanzhi, upon arriving here, sighed:

"Hmm? Is this an array created by Guangyang to regulate the landscape? No wonder it can conceal my presence so well that I couldn't detect it. It's quite impressive. That female companion hiding here is indeed very cunning."

"However, now that I'm here, the defenses here seem a bit redundant," Chanzhi muttered to himself, then reached out and gently pressed down.

But then a giant hand appeared in the sky.

A large, golden hand, semi-transparent in appearance, pressed down on the ground in a plucking motion.

What was clearly 'ground' suddenly turned into 'water' and was easily slapped into by that hand.

No, it didn't turn into water.

Rather, in the face of that hand's immense power, solids are like fluids.

He reached into the ground as easily as an ordinary person would reach into the water.

Without any hindrance.

It's not that there was no resistance, it's just that the resistance was almost non-existent for him.

The mountain range was flattened.

The earth shook violently!

The ground rippled like water!

The earth trembled and cracked, water and land surged, and all living beings were terrified. They saw the mountain god flee and the water god retreat!

The gods of mountains and rivers, upon merely seeing this giant hand, already knew the difference in power and fled in panic.

Chanzhi Zhi didn't care. His large hand continued to press down, leaving a huge pit in the ground. The surrounding earth trembled continuously, and the rocks and soil that were pushed aside surged out, constantly burying the surrounding mountains and rivers, and then forming new mountains, rivers and streams.

But then they saw that the countless mountain and water gods who had just fled were now shining with golden bodies, and some of them had even perished!

There's no other way; this formation can prevent spying and the spread of information.

If you want to go in and "invite someone," you have to break the formation created by Guangyang City first.

Fortunately, it's not difficult.

The solution is to overcome skill with force.

However, the large hand did not continue downwards.

After digging down thousands of meters, suddenly, a barrier rose up.

"Chanzhi! You've gone too far!" Guangyang Prefect's voice rang out from below!

"Ah, there's another mouse hiding here? Well then, let's keep it together. It's truly my good fortune." Chanzhi Zhi smiled, seemingly somewhat surprised, but without much reaction.

"Then come and try!" Guangyang Prefect roared, and then the barrier suddenly expanded!

Immediately afterwards, countless magical Law Treasure appeared in the sky, numbering in the tens of thousands!

Reason Way is most skilled in weapon crafting and formation arrangement.

Exploring the principles of all things is the Dao Path of Reason Way. They usually apply the principles they have discovered to practice, that is, they create Law Treasure that can reproduce these methods.

Thus, a unique formation Reason Way and principle was created, along with a large number of Law Treasure that could be mass-produced.

"Go!" Guangyang Prefect waved his hands, and countless Law Treasure jingled as they pierced towards Chanzhi at an extremely fast speed!

Among these Law Treasure, there are several hundred that are of the same grade as Li Qi's golden thread, and there are seven or eight that are stronger than the eighth-grade golden energy, even reaching the seventh grade.

These Law Treasure were arranged into a formation.

The golden bell tolls, and the clouds and waters churn.

The sound of the jade chime startled even ghosts and gods.

The furnace is lit and the fire clouds cover the top.

A feather fan flutters, and a colorful phoenix dances gracefully.

The soul banner flutters, and the ghost realm trembles in fear.

Bows and crossbows, golden swords and silver spears, purple mist and red clouds, black energy spreading.

Heavy halberds, overlapping spears and swords, golden bells and jade chimes, and all sorts of magical Law Treasure came crashing down from the sky!

No matter how unskilled he was in combat, Guangyang Prefect was still a dignified seventh-rank official. Now, with the advantage of terrain and the assistance of the formation below, he suddenly unleashed incredible power.

The smell of sulfur was pungent, the waves were surging, the earth was trembling, and the sky was gloomy.

The mere aftershocks of this formation caused chaos in the surrounding celestial phenomena, disrupted the calendar, caused the weather to become disordered, and caused the earth's energy to churn.

However, Chanzhi simply stood there, his hands clasped together.

Then, he softly recited the sutra. "This peacock is myself."

Just this one sentence... no, only half a sentence of scripture, yet it caused the surrounding area to radiate Buddha's light.

Peacocks are known for their love of eating poisonous insects and plants, and these poisons do not harm them. Instead, they enhance the richness and luster of their feathers, making them superior to other birds and beasts. Hence, there is a saying that they are "impervious to all poisons."

There is a Buddhist venerable king named Peacock King, known as the "Guardian Vajra," who is protected by divine light and makes all things retreat, because the peacock has the characteristic of not being touched by anything.

Long ago, there lived a strange beast in the snowy mountains, a golden peacock. It diligently recited the Peacock King Mantra, and thus always enjoyed peace and tranquility.

However, on one occasion, due to his indulgence in pleasure, he went to frolic in the distant mountains with many female peacocks without reciting the mantra, and was thus captured. While bound, he regained his mindfulness, recited the mantra, and was immediately freed from his bonds and gained his freedom.

At this moment, what Chanzhi was reciting was a half-line of the Peacock King Mantra, which contained errors and omissions.

After chanting the mantra, a great peacock appeared behind Chanzhi Zhi, with mandala light radiating around him, and a peacock image solidified behind him.

The peacock emitted Buddha's light, like a wisp of cloud in the vast sky. The Law Treasure, completely disobeying its commands, actually 'slid' out of the area covered by the Buddha-like Buddha's light of the peacock's body.

It was a very strange scene, like magnets repelling each other. Countless Law Treasure surrounded Chanzhi Zhi, but none of them could get close to him.

Guangyang Prefect, however, did not linger in battle.

After Chanzhi Zhi defended against this move, he activated the formation without hesitation, causing the great formation, built with the combined power of an entire province, to self-destruct!

He then withdrew and prepared to escape.

Although he spoke so resolutely, this was his first reaction.

They launched a full-scale attack, forcing Chanzhi Zhi to defend, then detonated the formation to prevent the enemy from pursuing them, and then made their escape.

He made this decision almost the instant they met.

Very quick and very wise, this was almost Guangyang Prefect's only chance of survival.

There is only one question.

How did you expose yourself?

This place should be able to ensure that no trace of anything leaks out. How did Chanzhi Zhi find himself?

After much thought, he could only come up with one answer.

Young Master Wushen Mountain!

No one but him could tell Chanzhi about this!

That bastard!

All I did was refuse to serve him, and he did this—trying to use Chanzhi to kill me with a borrowed knife!?

Despicable and shameless!

However, at that moment, the image behind Chanzhi Zhi changed.

Originally, it was in the form of a great peacock, with seven precious colors and radiant light. When one looked at mosquitoes, they appeared as if they were infants.

This Dharma image is heavily fortified and difficult to breach.

But after the formation self-destructed, he should have continued to defend.

If we don't defend, we'll be injured by the formation's self-destruction, and we won't be able to catch up with Guangyang Prefect.

However, instead of continuing to defend to avoid injury, Chanzhi Zhi did not make the judgment that Guangyang Prefect had anticipated.

In Guangyang Prefect's view, the Chanzhi Master had simply given up on defense.

That Chanzhi seemed completely unafraid of getting hurt.

However, the newly appeared Dharma image is—

Magic.

It was still noon.

But suddenly...

It got dark.

Something is blocking out the sunlight for miles around.

A colossal nightmare descended upon the world.

A terrifying demon with the upper body of a human and the lower body of countless venomous snakes stood behind Chanzhi.

These deformed snakes resembled tentacles, with pitch-black eyes and countless human faces screaming in pain on their tentacles.

Li Qi had seen Chanzhi in this posture before.

After Chanzhi Zhi lost control, this is what he looked like as a demon!

Beneath that terrifying demonic throne, black, smoking acid dripped incessantly.

But then, all the attacking magical Law Treasure, and even the self-destructing formations, began to dissolve.

Like light blown by the wind, like water cut by a knife, they never touch.

The demonic energy of the Chanzhi was like boiling water, while these external things were like solid ice. When they touched each other, the ice melted and vanished rapidly.

Guangyang Prefect, who was frantically fleeing in the distance, was surprised to see that Chanzhi ignored him and instead used his demonic body to forcibly suppress the self-destructing formation!

He's forcefully putting back a bomb that's about to explode!

Why do this?

Guangyang Prefect couldn't understand it at all.

Is it because you don't want to affect those around you?

Impossible!

How could this wicked monk possibly have such thoughts?

However, to his surprise, after suppressing the formation, the Chanzhi Zenzhi actually reached out to protect the area below the cave and raised his voice to say, "Young friend Shen, I have come to find you at the request of Li Qi. I invite you to visit my humble abode for a while. Young friend Li Qi is also with me."

Guangyang Prefect only understood when Chanzhi uttered those words.

Chanzhi Zhi didn't come to see him at all!

Someone is hiding beneath my formation! How could this happen?! Who the Heavenly Kill me?!

Guangyang Prefect was filled with grief and indignation, but he also felt a sense of relief.

So, the other party wasn't after him? And he can escape?

By sheer luck, he didn't stop and quickly rushed to a place a hundred miles away.

This is the border area. Leaving here means leaving the area affected by that demon god, and the probability of successfully escaping will be over 70%!

As long as you cross that line—

However, in the next instant...

Guangyang Prefect stopped.

A terrifying aura erupted from behind, causing even Guangyang Prefect, a seventh-rank official, to tremble.

A seventh-grade combat power, definitely another seventh-grade combat power!

What happened?

He couldn't help but look back.

But what I saw was a warrior.

He was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, two meters tall, with muscles like iron and bones like cast steel. He rubbed his fists together, laughed naked, and exuded a powerful Blood Qi that shot up from his Baihui acupoint, reaching a hundred feet high! He could be seen from a hundred miles away.

What a strong and capable man!

That body's Qi and Blood are practically Fire Calamity! If it's contained, it's somewhat better, but if you push it to its fullest extent, it can even melt metal and iron, turning the ground into sap!

"Thump, thump, thump." A dull sound rang out, as if the heavens were beating drums, or as if the earth was pulsating.

But Guangyang Prefect knew that it was the sound of a heartbeat.

An extremely strong heart pumps blood, which flows throughout the body, providing power to all the muscles!

It was this martial artist who stopped the Zen Chanzhi from reaching down.

For this, he endured a blow from the Chanzhi.

Chanzhi Zhi's large hand landed on him, making a crackling sound.

The warrior's bones made a crisp sound, like iron beads hitting the ground, or like jade colliding, but in any case, it didn't sound like bones.

During the stretching, the major tendons in the body pulsate like a giant bow, making a snapping sound.

Its skin is firm, tight, smooth, and lustrous, like silk or mercury; it is supple yet heavy, impervious to blades and arrows.

Just by looking at that physique, you can tell he's definitely a martial artist!

"Seventh rank? No, it's eighth rank, but it was temporarily boosted to the seventh rank by an array. Who is this person?" Guangyang Prefect retreated while observing who had intervened not far away.

Not everyone can improve their cultivation level by relying on external forces. Just like a balloon can burst when inflated, if one's foundation is not solid enough, then relying on external forces to improve one's cultivation level is tantamount to courting death.

What kind of genius is capable of advancing from the eighth rank to the seventh rank?

Regardless of the fleeing Guangyang Prefect.

But looking at the Chanzhi's side, the demonic monk smiled and said, "People from the Righteous Sword Palace? With the blessing of an array? Moreover, it was an array personally presided over by young friend Shen?"

He looked down and saw that, at some point, Shen Shuibi was standing below, presiding over the formation that controlled the energy of the mountains, rivers, and land in Guangyang City.

Unbeknownst to Guangyang Prefect, the formation had already been usurped and altered by her!

Chanzhi couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Young friend Li asked me to come and find you, but I didn't expect that young friend Shen would have such a strong and handsome man by his side. It seems that young friend Li is just being presumptuous."

Before his joke could even land, the man, Zhang Lan, started to move.

With the support of the formation, he drew his sword.

The first step of Li Qi's plan has officially begun.

(Two chapters today, one more to come)